1-23-06

Of course, I didn’t go to the café yesterday. Today (the day of writing, not of posting…God, this is confusing) is Tuesday. Yesterday was my first day at Smolny. Okay, you guys, I’m going to classes in pretty much the coolest place ever. Look up a picture of Smolny Cathedral if you don’t believe me. I’m not taking classes in the ACTUAL cathedral, but in one of the same-style buildings surrounding it. It’s all very baroque and sky-blue and is nice on the gloomy winter days we’ve been having.

There’s this place, after you get off at Petrogradskaya Metro and turn left to cross under the street, where there’s a magazine stand. The stand has rectangular lights on both sides and down the middle. The lights simply cannot be traditional bulbs; the light that they produce is far too natural looking. I swear to God, every time I round that corner, I think that it’s a window and there’s light shining through. It’s been a while since I’ve seen light shining onto or through anything. Not to say that we haven’t had clear days, I’ve seen a decent amount of blue sky recently. But the sun doesn’t really seem to shine; it’s just there.

So testing went fine, and the interview was easier than I expected. The Russian-only rule, while daunting at first, isn’t that big of a deal because it only applies to in-class and official group outings. But at the same time, since there are so many different levels of Russian students, it’s often easier to just use English.

So I had my first classes today, Grammar and Conversation. The Grammar teacher is nice but intimidating. I’m sure everyone’s had a teacher like her; she’s very easy going and willing to joke with everyone but at the same time she knows her stuff and if you’re wrong she’s going to tell you you’re wrong. Conversation was fun, as well. However, I have made my first classic Sally mistake of Russia.

On Monday, I took my laptop in my backpack to school because I intended on going to the internet café after lunch. Of course, I ended up not needing it and feeling like a moron for lugging around all the extra weight. So today, I just took a purse and a notebook. I had to carry the notebook kind of awkwardly, of course, because I’m me. So after lunch, a couple of us decide to go to the ex-pat haunt CitiBar because they have free WiFi (With purchase of food or drink). Of course, this would be a great time to have my laptop, because only 2 out of the 5 of us who went had laptops with them and then we had to pass them around the table so everyone could check email. Hillary saw me on the way there fumbling around with my one notebook, so she offered to put it in her backpack. This was very nice of her. So I put my notebook in her bag.

Of course, it’s still there, now that it’s nearly 10 o’clock. Of course, my very first homework assignment in Russia is in that notebook. Of course, I don’t have Hillary’s number, only Matt’s and Hannah’s. And Matt and Hannah do not have Hillary’s number. So we’ll see how this shakes out.

I bought a phonecard yesterday and called home about an hour ago. Dad was at a meeting, but Mom and I had a nice chat. The phonecard was super cheap, so I’m hoping this becomes a regular activity. Sometimes it’s nice to be able to discuss IU basketball and the Colts with someone who cares. You try explaining American Football to a Russian babushka. Or wireless internet. Or a woman working at a stone quarry. And try to explain it in Russian.

I just took a shower, so I’m writing this while I’m letting my hair dry. The water in the shower was not exactly what you’d call “hot.” However, Marina pointed out to me that it’s hotter later at night (when more gas is available), so I could take one later. I preferred to get it out of the way and deal with the consequences. The consequences were that I took, at best, a lukewarm shower and then stepped out into a cold bathroom. Oh well. I’m rolling with the punches.

Speaking of rolling with the punches, anyone familiar with my eating habits would marvel at some of the things I’ve been consuming lately. I told Mom this, and made her guess what I’ve been eating lately. Her first guess: Cabbage. Yes, cabbage. My old enemy. I’m still not sure that it entirely agrees with my constitution, but I have been consuming lots of cabbage. And borscht, which is surprising because I hate beets. Marina continues to be befuddled by the fact that I won’t have tea. Every morning she prepares me a coffeepot of water (She has to boil it first so I won’t get sick), and I drink that at breakfast and dinner and at breakfast I also have a small glass of milk. Whole milk. Again, not really my style. But I’m adapting! Studying abroad is all about stepping out of your comfort zone, right? Well, beets, cabbage, and whole milk are honestly pretty far out of my comfort zone. I’ve also started just eating things without wondering or caring what they are or what’s in them. This could possibly be dangerous in the future, but I figure at some point I’m going to hit the limits of Marina’s dinner repertoire and I’ll be okay.

At dinner tonight, as she continues to look for another beverage option for me (for reasons unknown), she offered me something…nasty. I’m going to have to find out the name. It looks like milk, but oh, it is not milk. Imagine cottage cheese. Imagine the milky part that’s always just hanging around cottage cheese. Imagine a glass full of this, but thicker. And also maybe some chunks in there. This is what Marina set in front of me at dinner while I was eating my chicken and rice (which was very tasty, but there was too much rice, and it’s the first time I haven’t finished a meal I’ve been given). Continuing my “out of the comfort zone” philosophy, I didn’t hesitate, I took a big gulp of it. Yeah, it was rough. Then Marina, seeing my distress, explained that sometimes she’ll put sugar in it. So then she takes a spoonful of sugar and puts it in the glass and stirs it up. I valiantly tried it again. It tasted just like before, but with pieces of sugar in it. When I told her I couldn’t finish it, she said, “It’s okay, I love it, I will finish it.” And right now, she’s in the other room, watching another one of her soap operas and drinking it. Blech.

I’m also trying to live for the moment culture-wise. Today, 6 of us bought tickets to the Mussorgsky Opera’s performance of Evgeny Onegin on February 2nd. I figure I have to get AT LEAST one opera and one ballet in while I’m here. Other people bought tickets for Romeo and Juliet. I saw that Carmen was also on the calendar, along with Boris Gudunov. I don’t know how many people I can convince to go to Boris Gudunov with me.

On a more American culture note, I’m about halfway through the only book in English that I brought. After discussing it with some of the other students, we’ve discussed the possibility of having a big English book-swap in a couple of weeks when everyone’s finished what they’ve brought. We’ll see how that goes down. As Hannah pointed out, she could give someone her Faulkner and end up with a Harlequin novel in return. But hey, “out of the comfort zone,” right?

I’m going to finish drying my hair and read a bit before bed. Maybe, just MAYBE I’ll actually post this tomorrow.